Automatic slack control means for railway cars



Feb. 11, 1941- J. ROBINSON AUTOMATIC SLACK CONTROL MEANS FOR RAILWAY CARS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 2, 1958 Fig. I.

- INVENTOR JOJEPH ROBINSON BY My ATTORNEY Feb; 11, 1941- .1. ROBINSON AUTOMATIC SLACK CONTROL MEANS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Dec. 2, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V.. 5 E MN 9N R m o E T R T A WH P x 0 Jm l M H. mm

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Feb. 11, 1941. J RQBINSQN 2,231,028

AUTOMATIC SLACK CONTROLv MEANS FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Dec. 2, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 i 2/ 23 A A '1 22 7 ii C Y 30 m M A .25 I /4 d Z8 I E a Fig. 4

INVENTOR JOSEPH ROBINSON Maw \ ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC SLACK CONTROL MEANS FOR RAILWAY cans H disconnect the train pipe hose of the cars automatically. My improvement is a simplification of the construction shown and described in my copending application Serial #131,583, filed March 18, 1937.

The slack existing between the car couplers now in general use has become a quite serious problem in long freight trains. It'is the cause of much of the rough handling of trains, and inflicts damage to equipment which is not always immediately evident but makes its appearance later inaccelerated deterioration. It also causes damage to lading that costs the railroads and the public millions of dollars annually. Various attempts have been made to produce a slack free car coupler. Some of these efforts have met with success but the benefits thereof are confined primarily to passenger cars by reason of the high cost of making and installing slack free couplers. Such couplers, with but one known exception, perform only the single function of automatically connecting the cars. disconnect the train pipe hose automatically. My invention produces a simple and inexpensive device that can be readily attached to any type of car couplerand which, when so attached, automatically controls the longitudinal slack between joined couplers and also connects and disconnects the train pipe hose of such cars automatically. The invention includes a centering head provided with suitable gathering means the transverse center line of which is dropped a substantial distance below the transverse centerline of the yoke. The simplicity and low cost of my improvement adapts 'it to general freight service on existing car couplers with no modification ofv the coupler other than the provision thereon of a simple lug or lugs to receive my improvement.

I attain these objects and improvements by the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate similar parts, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a standard type of freight Car coupler with my improvement ap-. plied;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 looking rearwardly;

They do not also connect and.

Figure 4 is a plan view of my improvement. In this view the bracket A is shown in section at the point where the tie rod C is pivoted thereon, and

Figure 5 is a plan view, on reduced scale, of a 5 pair of car couplers with my slack controlling automatic connector applied. In this view the coupler heads are shown in draft engagement, that is to say with the slack between them removed by my improvement.

My invention includes a. suitable bracket or base A; preferably, though not necessarily, forked to provide a pair of upwardly extending arms 10 which are suitably secured, as by bolts or rivets I I, to spaced lugs l 2 that are welded to or cast in- 15 tegral with a conventional car coupler B. At its lower end the bracket is provided with laterally extending projections I4, shown best in Figure 3, thatare joined by a vertically disposed cylindricallyu shaped anchor lug l5. A tierod C is 20 hooked over the lower end of the bracket, with its enlarged head l6 resting in the seat ll of the bracket for rocking movement thereon. The mating surfacescof the tie rod and the seat I! flare in opposite directions as shown best in Figure 4. 2, A yoke D, comprising spaced straps 18 joined at their rear by a flange l9, spans the lower end of the bracket and the tie rod head and seat H. The yoke is provided with flaring surfaces 20 which at the top of their flare fit snugly between 30 the laterally extending projections or shoulders I4 and serve to prevent undue rotation of the yoke D and the coupling or centering head E when in the normal uncoupled position shown in Figure 1, while permitting rotation thereof when 35 the parts are in the coupled position shown in Figure 5. The yoke is provided with an enlarged hollow forward end 2| pressed rigidly into the receiving shank 22 of the centering head E and cooperates with the front face 23 of the shank 0 and with the buifer springs F to receive the buffing blows of service and free the gathering means of the centering head E of any excessive strains from such blows. Intermediate the enlarged head 2| and the flange l9 of the yoke D the latter is 45 provided with laterally extending integral spring seats 24 which receive and. position the forward ends of a. pair of bufier springs F, the rear ends of these springs being mounted on and supported by a spring seat G which is adjustably anchored, 5.0 as by the nut 2'5, to the tie rod C. Normally these springs are under sufiicient compression to hold the coupling or centering head E and the yoke D at the limit of their forward movement with the flange l9 yieldingly maintained against the flat 5:;

rear side 26 of the shoulders H! of the bracket A. It will be observed, especially in Figures 1, 3 and 4, that these springs occupy a common horizontal plane and are positioned outside of the straps I 8 of the yoke, with the flange l9 resting normally about midway the length of the springs. This arrangement materially shortens the overall length of my improvement and facilitates its application to couplers supported by low hanging carrier irons 21, Figure 1. A standard type of hose H is connected'to' my improvement by means of a curved fitting 28 which is removably mounted in the hollow forward end 2| of the yoke through the medium of an adjustable lock pin 23. This fitting carries at its forward end a self ex-- panding gasket 30 adapted to abut a similargas ket in a mating fitting. I V A y An important feature of my improvement is the coupling or centering head E. It is desirable to bring the longitudinal center line of the yoke D and the buffer springs F as near as possible to the longitudinal center line of the car couple-r and yet leave sufiicient room between the top of the head E and the bottom of the car coupler to accommodate all inequalities in car height. This essential feature is attained by dropping thetop of the funnel 3| of the head tothe level of the upper edge of the receiving shank 22' and carrying the stubby ball member .32 downwardly a like amount. For comparison reference is made to my United States Patent #l,944,'l93, January 23, 1934. The centering o-r coupling head E is preferably a one piece construction withthe flaring funnel 3| located on the right hand side facing the connector to protect my improvement against damage when car couplers slip by in service. At its apex the funnel 3| is providedwith a large opening 33 into which projects a plurality of powerful lugs-34 having on their narrow-front faces centering seats 35 to receive the aligning,

ball 32 of the head. The flare of the funnel followsaround the shank 22 of the head and is widest laterally at a point below the shank, as shown best in Figure 2. Making'the funnel very shallow, and the ball member 32 short and stubby, as shown in Figure 1, gives the important advantage of throwing upon" the relativelymassive car couplers the major stresses and primary aligning work in coupling. This diminution in the longitudinal'size of the funnel 3| and ball 32 permits the car couplers B to get close togetherin the coupling act before the centering heads E come into play. It alsoincreases the path. for trainmen when passing in front of the .car coupler. Dropping the apexof the funnel 3| below the receiving shank 2'2 carries the lugs 34 considerably belowthe center of the yoke D and permits the use of a fitting 28 curved to best suit the standard locationof the train pipe hose- H, and facilitates the removal and replacement of the fitting for the purpose of renewing the gasket 30 while mated centering headsE are coupled.

I am aware that changes in shape and arrangement'of the parts of my improvement may be made, and will likely be suggested by further service experience- I therefore do not desire to be limited to the exact construction here disclosed. A different arrangement and number of buffer springs F may be used, and the bracket or base A may be attached to the car2'coupler B otherwise than 'as here iIIustratedJeSpeciaHy when my improvement is applied to 'bottom operating car couplers. For such application the low throat 36 between the forks I of the-bracket, and the lateral space between the buffer springs F behind the bracket, are expeditious. And when it is desired to connect the hose H of my improvement into interchange communications with the hose of an adjacent car not equipped with my improvement a suitable interchange dummy, such as'shown in my United States Patent #l,896,917, February 7, 1933, carried on the lugs 31 of the yoke D, is used. The linked engagement of the tie rod .0 with the bracket A for permitting universal movement of the yoke D and centering headE of my improvement, may be replaced by a universal joint having the wide vertical and. lateral bearing surfaces of the type shown in I my United States Patent #1,921,207, August 8,

1933. It is believed, however, that none of the undisclosed structural changes referred to would lie beyond the scope of my invention, which I have shown as used on freight car couplers but which is also adapted for sufiicient service on passenger car couplers.

What I claim I g LAslack controldevice for-the couplers of railway.cars,:'comprising in combinatioma base formed separately of the coupler and attached thereto, a yoke pivotally mounted on said base, a centering head mounted on said yoke, and resilient means for urging said centering head forward against a mating head and for urging said coupler rearwardly with respect to a companion coupler to maintain joined couplers in draft engagement, said centering head being provided with gathering means the transverse center line of which isbelow the transverse center line of said yoke whereby the force of said resilient means for'the purpose stated is made eflective.

'2. Azslack control device such. as described in claim 1 in which the resilient means is a buffer spring acting against said yoke and adapted to pivot therewith. 1

3. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in whichban anchor member, pivotally connected to said base, maintains said resilient means under tension.

0 4. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the yoke spans a part of the base and a part of an anchor member employed to maintain said resilient means under tension, the anchor member being pivo-tally mounted on said base. w

5. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the resilient means is a pair of coiled springs supported by said yoke on opposite sides thereof with the front end of the springs lying in front of the base and the rear end of the springs lying at therear of the base.

6. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which an anchor device is provided to secure said resilient means to said base and in whicha stop, adjustably carried by said anchor device, serves as a seat or abutment for the rear end of said resilient-means.

7. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the resilient means is a pair of buffer springs, and inwhich the yoke is provided with a flange normally held in yielding engagement with said base by said springs to maintain the centering head at the limit of its forward movement, and in which seats or abutments are provided on said yoke for the forward ends of said springs.

8. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the resilient means is a pair of buffer springs and in which the base is provided with a deep fork, and said buffer springs are spaced laterally apart, to provide clearance for the operating mechanism of bottom operated car couplers.

9. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the forward end of the yoke is connected to the centering head and in which the major bufiing blows of service that act on said head are yieldingly received by the yoke and by the immediately adjacent walls of the head.

10. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the transverse center of the gathering means of said centering head is arranged in a common horizontal plane below the ransverse center of said yoke.

11. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the transverse center of the gathering means of the centering head is below the transverse center of the yoke and includes a 'rearwardly flaring shallow funnel and a for- Wardly extending stubby ball member each disposed on opposite sides of the vertical center of said head, and in which the apex of the funnel is provided with a seat to receive the ball member of an opposing centering head in coupling.

12. A slack control device such as-described in claim 1 in which the gathering means includes a funnel [the apex of which is provided with a relatively large opening to facilitate the exit of foreign substances therefrom, and in which a plurality of lugs extend into the path of said opening to receive the ball member of a companion centering head in coupling.

13. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the forward end of the yoke removably carries a fitting which cooperates with the yoke to connect thereto the train pipe hose of .the car.

14. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 which serves also to connect and disconnect the train pipe hose of the car automatically.

' 15. A slack control device such as described in claim 1 in which the lateral resistance to movement of said yoke with respect to said base, when the car couplers are uncoupled, is such as tolaterally align opposing couplers when said centering head meets a companion head in coupling.

I 16. A centering head for an automatic train pipe connector comprising, in combination, a base having an opening therethrough, a forwardly extending shorst stubby ball member on one side of the vertical center line of said base, and a longitudinally shallow funnel member on the opposite side of said vertical center line and adapted to receive the ball member of an opposing centering head to align mating heads, said funnel having an opening through its apex provided with a seat against which the ball member of an opposing head rests when mating heads couple, the transverse center line of said ball and funnel members being in a common horizontal plane a substantial distance below the transverse center line of the opening in said base, whereby the top of .the perforated portion of the base is adjacent to the horizontal plane occupied by the top of said funnel.

JOSEPH ROBINSON. 

